Tuesday, February 03, 2009

47 isn't too old...

...to get out of prison and get married and start a family. Oh - and hire a driver. "Abu Kab" won't be driving ever again as per the terms of his sentence for the vehicular manslaughter of three young men which happened a couple of years ago when "Abu Kab" was joy riding. [More here.] I don't know if we have ever been told the real name of "Abu Kab" which means, "the man with the hat." The family of two of the boys that "Abu Kab" killed isn't happy with the sentence; twenty years in prison, 3,000 lashes and a lifetime ban on driving. They wanted nothing less than the death penalty - which was what the original sentence was. The other family of one young man who died in the accident has forgiven "Abu Kab." Authorities are making an example out of "Abu Kab," and what he did was wrong, so I am not defending him. But what about the rest of the drivers - the majority of which are young men - that are such a menace on the roads? How about doing something about them, too?

Want to increase revenues in The Sandbox? Issue speeding tickets and tickets for reckless driving and for running red lights. Creating a bunch of laws does not solve the road carnage problem. Enforce those laws. Give the traffic police the tools to do their jobs. Put video cameras on their 1980 Toyota's. Install cameras at lights. Quit allowing the few who are stopped to make a phone call to their Daddy or boss or whoever has the "wasta" to get them out of the tickets. Punish everyone [not just the select few expatriate drivers]. Issue fines with the tickets. 1000SR for the first speeding ticket, 2500 for the second and 5000 for the third. Three months in jail for the third speeding ticket if it happens within a three year period of the first and second ticket, and take that man's driving privilege away for a year. A lot could be done to solve the problem and yet nothing is done.

Need proof that nothing is done? "Abu Kab" had 66 previous driving violations. 66! But it took the death of three innocent boys to finally do something about his driving. Do the math. Assume he started driving when he was 16; he is 27, now. That is eleven years of driving which means he racked up some 6 violations a year. A few fines, a little jail time, and revocation of his driving privileges might mean that the three boys he killed would be alive today. Just saying...

Until someone finally says enough is enough, the situation will only continue to get worse. What is it going to take?!? Don't the rest of us have the right to be safe in our vehicles? Yeah. Apparently not.

About Me

Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, there was a Woman who thought she was living the American Dream. Her childhood, although now not particularly memorable, was fairly normal. She went to school. She got a job. She met a tall, blonde and handsome pilot and married him. It was all good. They were the perfect “Ken and Barbie” couple. The handsome pilot built her the house of her dreams in North Carolina, where she thought they would live for the remainder of their many, many days to come. Circumstances, totally out of the control of this lovely Ken and Barbie couple, changed everything. Shortly afterward, they came to find themselves living a whole new life in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Oh, sure, they are still the perfect “Ken and Barbie” couple, but Barbie now wears an abeyah over her designer outfits when she leaves her house, she has given up her pink convertible because she is not allowed to drive, and she no longer has an office that she visits five days a week, instead choosing to spend her time as a stay-at-home wife and an over-protective, doting Mommy to their two absolutely adorable, much loved and very, very pampered four-legged “Kids.”